Tony Sinico got started on his teaching career a little later than most, entering the profession a decade ago, at age 33.
But he has more than made up for any perceived loss of time by actively pursuing any opportunities that have come his way.
Particularly those that have allowed him to work closely with colleagues and students alike.
To that end, Sinico is leaving a school district he loves to join a school district he has long admired and respected.
A 1998 Cedar Crest grad, Sinico is headed across town to Lebanon School District after being hired as the Cedars’ new athletic director on Monday, Jan. 15.
A social studies teacher at Cedar Crest for the last 10 years, while also serving as the school’s girls lacrosse coach since 2018 and the boys lax coach from 2014 to 2017, Sinico replaces Carlos Sanchez, who will become the principal of Lebanon Intermediate School in March, when Sinico officially takes over as AD.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to join a fantastic administration team and faculty at Lebanon High School,” Sinico said Wednesday. “Although I will miss many people at Cedar Crest, I am looking forward to making new connections at Lebanon as we work to serve the Lebanon School District community.”
“I actually always wanted to be an athletic director since I got into teaching,” added Sinico, a Lebanon Valley College graduate who also owns a pair of master’s degrees from Temple and West Virginia, in school leadership and sports administration respectively.
“It was always a goal of mine,” said Sinico. “I only had my eyes on certain school districts that I’d be willing to move vertically to – from teaching into administration – and Lebanon School District was definitely one of them.”
Sinico takes over as AD at Lebanon at an important juncture in its history. Traditionally high-profile programs like football and boys basketball are both currently enduring lengthy, multi-season losing streaks, while once overlooked programs like girls basketball and cross country are thriving. In addition, Lebanon has recently enjoyed unparalleled individual success by wrestlers and swimmers at the district and state levels.
Read More: Lebanon High’s football struggles reflect wider issues in urban school districts
“I am walking into it at an interesting time,” Sinico said. “It’s something we’re going to be evaluating, especially the football end of it. They’re still going through the process and doing their due diligence right now to make sure we hire the right person (to fill the vacant head coaching position to keep that program moving in the right direction.
“Unfortunately, they’re kind of in a lull right now (football and boys basketball), but I think it’s looking up. I think we have good people and good athletes, we just need to get them moving in the right direction.”
And make no mistake, Sinico envisions the athletic department he’ll be running as a “we” thing, and not a “me” thing.
“I am very open to communication,” he said. “I really want to put all of our heads together and see what we can do best. Does that mean I’m going to follow what everyone suggests? No. But I think it’s very important to take into consideration my coaches and the administration and say, ‘What direction do you think we can go?’ And then let’s build from there.”
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